After a week of tough news for NMSU, President Floros pivots to the future

New Mexico State University regents, along with Chancellor Dan Arvizu, President John Floros and other administrators, participate in a work session on Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018, at Corbett Center.(Photo11: Josh Bachman/Sun-News, )Buy Photo

Speaking via video to the regents Wednesday, Wheless senior advisor Robert Witt, a former president of the University of Alabama, told regents, "We strongly believe that Chancellor Arvizu and President Floros have inherited extremely serious administrative deficiencies."

Witt told regents the university suffers from poor financial planning and internal controls, a weak budgeting system, poor communications and a culture of "information silos" inhibiting the sharing of information among departments.

Staff interviews indicated to the consultants that performance metrics in various departments were not aligned with strategic goals, with personnel often working at cross-purposes, and a "risk-averse" culture that discouraged initiative and trust.

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Dan Arvizu, chancellor of New Mexico State University, listens to the results of an institutional analysis diagnosing lack of communication and strategic focus during a work session Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018, at Corbett Center.(Photo11: Josh Bachman/Sun-News, )

The administrative weaknesses exacerbated "serious financial challenges" following a multi-year decline in enrollment, with no clear recruitment plan in place.

Additionally, Witt alerted regents to a lack of coordination between marketing and recruiting staff, with advertising resources expended on areas that were not strategic priorities for recruitment efforts. Witt also said NMSU marketers neglected digital media over traditional media by a ratio of 32 to 68 percent. The firm suggested reversing that ratio.

Wheless CEO Rich Grehalva joined Witt in praising the new president and chancellor for taking steps to consolidate teams or improve communications, but said finances still required immediate attention.

"We believe it is imperative that the current weaknesses in the financial area are addressed as quickly as possible," Grehalva said, even suggesting regents explore temporary hires of retired vice presidents of finance for a 30-60 day period.

The consultants said they felt confident about the recent appointment of Renay Scott to be vice president for student success, encompassing the duties formerly carried out by Bernadette Montoya as vice president of student affairs with additional responsibilities. Additionally, they highlighted the appointment of Mike Rogers as interim chief marketing officer, and the launch of a national search for a strategic financial officer.

Besides the university's finances and declining enrollment, shrinking revenue from research grants was a major item of concern. Floros warned regents, "Our reputation as a public research university is at risk."

'I don't want people to panic'

Despite the blunt report by Wheless, and their own critiques of the university's structure and group dynamics, Arvizu and Floros said they were confident the problems were reversible. The consultants from Wheless agreed.

In an interview with the Sun-News on Friday, Floros acknowledged trepidation about organizational changes and the university's financial position.

"Change is really scary for everybody, and particularly when it happens sort of abruptly," Floros said. "Our goal is to minimize that uncertainty as quickly as we can … Both the chancellor and I are meeting with as many groups as we can, as fast as we can."

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John Floros, president of New Mexico State University, listens to the results of an institutional analysis diagnosing lack of communication and strategic focus during a work session Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018, at Corbett Center.(Photo11: Josh Bachman/Sun-News, )

The $3.3 million deficit created by increased scholarship spending since 2016 was uncovered, he said, just two or three weeks ago. Although the deficit is "not peanuts," Floros said, "I don’t want people to panic and start thinking the sky is falling."

He reiterated the promise he made at the regents' meeting on Wednesday that the university would honor its scholarship commitments, and noted that he had recently approved 50 faculty hires.

"I don’t think we’re going to have any major cuts," Floros said. "I don’t think we’re going to have anything this fiscal year out of the ordinary, but we have to re-evaluate our next steps and the timing of our next steps."

He said the budget news may lead to delays in the organizational changes he and Arvizu wish to make, including new administrative positions, but he said they would proceed despite the shortfall. "We are going to try to manage our enrollment and our scholarships a little better," he said.

The administration's first priority, Floros said, was managing enrollment while improving student success. "Student success is not a singular thing, it’s a perpetual thing," he explained. "Just because you brought a student into the university, that student has not (yet) succeeded. Success is when you have students out there in the workplace for years and years and they are still happy with their education and speak highly of NMSU. That’s the long-term success. That’s going to take a slightly different culture to improve."

Floros also said the university needed to address research funding, both for its land grant mission and to attract faculty.

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New Mexico State University Regents Debra Hicks, left, and Kari Mitchell, right, Dan Arvizu, chancellor of NMSU and John Floros, president of NMSU, listen during a presentation of an institutional analysis diagnosing lack of communication and strategic focus Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018, at Corbett Center.(Photo11: Josh Bachman/Sun-News, )

"We want to innovate, we want to really do things that address challenges and problems not only within the region and within the state but nationally and internationally," he said.

The previous administration's scholarship spending "is not unusual among academic institutions," Floros said. "It has been pretty common among universities to provide additional funds for scholarships and to increase that every year ... The unusual thing is how we as a university managed those increased amounts and how we have sort of overrun the budget ... As we move forward we’re going to cope with it and figure out ways to handle it."